For a Thousand Years... (CableZ) (Finished)

[Xelliea]

For a Thousand Years...

Discussion Thread

Alicorn Royal Family Tree

Speech Key:
Orange - Hasta
Black - Dread
Teal - Prince Caelum
Brown - High Noon
Grey - Lux
Maroon - Stygian
B Blue - Electrum
BU Black - Noctis
B Orange - Hyperion
B Green - Sceleratus
B Red - Incendius
BU Teal - Utopia
Navy - Valiant
BU Grey - Cronos
B Yellow - Halcyon
B Navy - Aero
[Im] Black - Great Vowz, the Black Sentinel
[Im] Red - Great Kithyu, the Heretic
[Im] Purple - Great Maaseffakenis, the First Light



Chapter I - A Day at the Dig Site

Deep within the eastern reaches of Whitetail Wood, nestled amongst the falling leaves, lay the Alicorn dig site. Little under a year ago, explorers of Whitetail wood had discovered a most curious object embedded in the dirt of one of the wood's larger glades. Though little was thought of it at first, further investigation of the discovery lead to the realisation that it was in fact an relic, thousands of years old, untouched since the time of the Alicorns. Curious archaeologists and fame seekers alike jumped on what appeared to be the remains of a lost Alicorn temple.

It wasn't long since an entire dig site had be erected and ponies were hard at work uncovering what had been buried for so long. Each day they dug, more and more secrets seemed to be revealing themselves. Soon, rumours of a the historical goldmine had made their way from Ponyville to Canterlot. The media jumped on the story, and so funding, research and interest quadrupled.

Today was the day that the site was finally opened to the public. Displays and temporary museums had been scattered all over the glade. Everything could be seen, from ancient Alicornian carvings, to jewellery apparently made by pre-Discordian Earth Ponies. Yes, it was truly an interesting sight, but Hasta wasn't there to wonder or learn.

She was there on business.

Despite the popularity, there had yet to be any high standing interest in the site. However, once the Canterlot elite had heard of the possibilities that the site held, it had quickly become a matter of political importance. And when council get interested in something... they send me, Hasta thought to herself as she dug a little as the grassy dirt beneath her. Not my usual cup of tea, she mumbled to herself, but probably suited to my talents.

The first of the interested tourists had already started to amass across at the other side of the site. Within a few minutes, they'd no doubt want to touch and feel everything they could get their curious hooves on. Best she not delay.

[CableZ]

That day had begun like any other, the bright sun shine crept through the window and hit Dread Lock's eyes like needles. Stirring slightly, Dread Lock let out a tired sigh as the realization another day was about to play out. Tentatively he set his hooves down on the creaky wooden floor, making sure he had his balance he trotted out of his rather bare room. Stepping blurry eyed out into the main area of his house, Dread Lock took survey of his surroundings to make sure everything was as he had left it the previous night. Only one thing stood out as out of place, and that was a small leaflet than sat in front of his front door. Dread Lock went to investigate, he rarely got mail after all.

The leaflet was an advertisement for some sort of dig site that had just opened to the public, the pictures showed unearthed artifacts and other curiosities. Dread Lock didn't usually find interest in such things, but he thought it would be a good opportunity to get out and try and meet somepony. Knowing he had no work to finish today, Dread Lock decided to waste no time and headed on out the door.

The walk to Whitetail Wood as a quiet and brief one, Dread Lock didn't really take in the sights as he walked and instead kept his gaze focused ahead. As he approached, the sound of chatter became more prominent and as he entered the clearing that the dig site was centered in, Dread Lock saw the small group of ponies that had amassed for the tour. Immediately Dread Lock felt slightly uncomfortable and even considering leaving, but he gritted his teeth and entered the dig site proper. He received a few odd and even dirty looks from the other ponies, this was due to his odd mane style and general dark look. That and he was a pony few had even seen before. He ignored this however and decided to look around, keeping some distance between the main tour group and himself.
'This is going to be a long day' He muttered to himself

[Xelliea]

It had just been this morning that Hasta had been given the assignment she was now carrying out. It had just been this morning that she had exchanged glares with Astral, who, despite being her commanding officer, rarely got on well with her. Still, her talents were useful, and for that he tolerated her, and she tolerated him. And it had just been this morning that she had boarded a train from Canterlot and had made her way into Whitetail Wood. It had been a pleasant walk through the peaceful woods, but she found it hard to enjoy it. She didn't like silence.

The dig site was already beginning to become flooded with ponies. They came from all directions, prodding various relics with their hooves. There seemed to be ponies from all walks of life here, but they all seemed innocent enough. There was one pony though... Hasta would have to keep an eye on him.

After a brief pause, she made her way over to the dig site office, as was required. She was to meet with the head archaeologist at the site, an old friend of hers in fact. He would hand her one of the newest relics they had found, notably radiating heavy magical energies that even the most down-to-earth Earth Pony could feel. Hasta slowly made her way into the office, looking around for a few moments. However, she was not presented with the sight of the pony she was meeting, in fact she didn't see any ponies at all.

With a long, drawn out sigh, Hasta left the office. No doubt they just couldn't resist giving a tour the moment the place opened, she thought to herself. She glanced around the dig site. Though there was still no sight of the archaeologists, she did notice a group of ponies huddled around on of the seemingly more popular displays. Perhaps one of the archaeologists was hidden amongst the ponies. So much for easy in, easy out .

She was sure that Earth Pony was looking at her.

[CableZ]

Dread Lock was well and truly out of his comfort zone and it showed, he shifted his weight around and looked at the ground mostly. The dig site itself was quite interesting to Dread Lock's surprise, the relics and artifacts that had been uncovered were quite old to say the least. Dread Lock wandered around away from the group, quietly observing all that was going on. Despite his more than uncomfortable disposition, Dread Lock enjoyed being outdoors and around other ponies. Dread Lock did however feel slightly more uncomfortable due to the fact that an eath-pony was watching him from across the dig sit, he was used to odd looks but this felt more like an intense gaze that he wasn't entirely used to. Shrugging it off he decided to look around more and see what he could find for himself without the aid of the tour guides.

Dread Lock wandered around, quietly humming to himself as he looked around. He soon found himself quite far away from rest of the tour group and didn't really have any intentions of heading back anytime soon. Not wanting to disturb any of the actual digging areas, Dread decided to keep to the walkway area that was set out in the dirt. he continued to wander until he reached the far edge of the dig site, at which point he decided he had no more options but to turn back and join the tour group. As he headed back, he noticed a pony heading out of a small office. It was the same pony that had been watching him before and she was doing the same now. Dread Lock stopped for a moment to return the gaze, she clearly was here for more than the tour. It wasn't his place to wonder about such things however so he decided to return to his stroll back toward the tour group. He couldn't shake the feeling however that she would not give up her observation of him so easily.

[Xelliea]

Hasta scanned the outside of the group for anyone resembling an archaeologist. Nothing. Just a group of interested ponies looking over one of the more pleasing relics. That was all. No sight of the pony she was looking for. She hadn't the time for this. If the archaeologists insisted on playing games, she would cut out the middle man. Turning around, she made her way back to the office. Again, that pony was looking at her. She wouldn't allow some hunch to distract her from her assignment.

She trotted back through the door, scanning around the office for any sign of the relic. She could certainly feel a buzzing, a slight hum of energy that radiated through her mind and body. She glanced behind her, just to be sure she wasn't being watched by that odd looking pony. Happy that she was at least alone in here. The relic itself could be in any of the cases and cupboards in the office. It would have likely taken over half an hour to search every compartment in the office, but the waves of magic made it possible, but rather difficult, to pinpoint its location.

The action itself was like finding the source of a noise in a colossal room, with the walls sound proofed. Hasta pulled open a container or two, but, despite there being various relics and artefacts in said containers, none of them felt right. None of them had the right aura. Then she noticed it, the small box on the top shelf. Slowly, she pulled the box down. The minute she touched the container, the hum increased two-fold. It was locked, but that wouldn't be a problem back at the castle. She didn't like being around it, but she stashed it into her saddle bag none the less.

With another glance around her, she left the office. All that was left now was to get the box back to Canterlot. Easy in, easy out after all. Keeping to herself, Hasta made it through the now spread out ponies to leave.

[CableZ]

Dread Lock knew that if he were to see the more complete relics that had been uncovered, he would have to get closer to the crowd. This was a tricky thing for Dread Lock as his legs refused to move at first. Tentatively and with caution he slowly moved toward the main body of the crowd, making sure to avoid eye contact with anypony.

Dread Lock was now in the main part of the crowd and was truly out of his comfort zone and through the looking glass as it were. The artifacts that the ponies were all gathered around could only be seen in slight glimpses and were quite uninteresting compared to some of the others Dread Lock had seen in the Dig site.

Having seen all there really was to see that was open the the public, Dread Lock was just about ready to head home. However because of the density of the crowd he found it difficult to move and instead had to cautiously trot backwards. He was just about out of the crowd when he felt something bump into him when he wasn't looking. Quickly facing forward in shock, Dread Lock was not only surprised to see that it was a mare that had bumped into him, but it was also the pony he had seen looking at him earlier.

"Oh...I'm, uh sorry?" Dread Lock tripped over his quiet words that were difficult to hear amidst the chatter of the crowd "Are You ok?"

He looked down at this mare who had bumped into him, she was a small thing. Definitely smaller than most mares, which just made Dread Lock seem even more monolithic to her. His eyes were cold and focused yet without any malice or ill feeling in them, he just looked down at this mare and wondered what to do in this situation

[Xelliea]

The Night Guard Earth-pony traversed through the crowd in a rather uncharacteristically clumsy manner. The hum from the box she had in her saddle bags was distracting her somewhat. The day's assignment hadn't gone at all as expected, but that often happened when one worked as a royal guard, especially in Hasta's branch. Had she more time, and had the thought bothered her more, she would have spent a while trying to find the apparently vanishing archaeologists.

The thought hung around in her head for a while. Where had the ponies that were running the site got to. A walk in the forest? No, at least one would have stayed back at the dig site, she was sure. It just made no sense, but Hasta decided that there was little point thinking it over too much. She would mention the disappearing staff back at Canterlot, but it wasn't her problem. She just needed to collect and transfer the relic from the dig...

*Thump*

In the combination of distraction and haste, Hasta had slammed straight into the pony in front of her. She blinked a few times and, shaking her head briefly, she pulled herself back onto her hooves, standing once more in her usual fashion. Yes yes, I'm sure an apology is in order, but I'm far too busy to... Her sentence was cut short when she realised she had bumped into the same pony that had been looking at her during her time at the dig site.

After tilting her head to the left, then to the right, she shrugged off the quasi-stupor. The humming seemed to have died down quite a bit since she had slammed into the other Earth-pony, which meant she could think straight once again. Well, we both have a place to be, I'm sure. She turned to leave. She had only taken a single step, however, when her eyes opened wide. The reduced humming was nothing to do with something affecting the relic.

The box had fallen on the floor. More noise and humming was coming from it than ever before.

[CableZ]

Dread Lock continued to quietly study the pony that had walked straight into him, it wasn't until she started speaking that he was knocked out of this state. Dread was very apprehensive on how to proceed with the situation and shifted his weight uncomfortably. He watched as the pony got herself back up on all 4 hooves and look him in the eye. She was studying him, that much was sure. He looked at her intently, one eye hidden behind his oddly styled main of dreadlocks. This was the longest social interaction Dread Lock had, had in years.

Thoughts went through Dread Lock's head at a mile a minute, he processed lots of information at once just trying to think of something to say or do. His eyes remained focused despite his uncomfortable demeanor. His eyes wandered down to what the mare had dropped when she bumped into him. Dread Lock's eyes lay upon some sort of box that he could have sworn was humming slightly.
"Uh...you seem to have dropped...something" Dread's words were slightly lost in the noise of the crowd

[Xelliea]

The box, that small, grey, locked box, rested on the floor of the forest. The humming seemed to grow with every second. What started off as a diminutive buzz now began to reach a sound similar to that of the turbines at a dam. Hasta found herself unknowingly backing away from the container, and the relic contained within. She wasn't willing, wasn't brave enough, to risk harm to approach and gather up the container. Instead, she stood back from it, every so often shifting her gaze to the pony she had collided with.

With a high pitched whine, like that of a hyperactive wasp, the container began to collapse in on itself, to crumple like a piece of tissue paper. Hasta blinked a few times, trying not to seem worried or nervous. The occurrence, however odd, hadn't seemed to attract much attention around the dig site. The other ponies appeared to be unaware of what was going on and were continuing to look over the site.

The glares that Hasta gave the other Earth-pony were becoming longer and more serious. The box continued to shake and implode, finally attracting more attention. Listen, whoever you are, back away. Just don't touch it.

With the whine reaching a peak, the box finally gave way and feel to pieces. The relic within now lay bare on the dirt.

[CableZ]

Dread Lock's expression never changed, he still had a rather blank emotionless stare that was un-phased despite the odd events that were transpiring. As the loud humming became something close to deafening, Dread Lock looked around to see if anypony was reacting. It struck him as slightly odd that nopony else was really interested, but then again he didn't know much about what got other ponies attention. He watched as the box shook violently at his hooves and backed away slightly out of instinct. Dread was not so much scared as very confused about the entire situation, not only the strange box that seemed to be possessed, but also the mare that had bumped into him was still interacting with him. Dread's eyes remained focused on the box in front of him, quietly observing as the box seemingly imploded in on itself.

Dread Lock was hesitant at best about the current state of events, his eyes remained fixed on the artifact for a good few minutes before slowly moving up to look at this mare who had dropped this strange object. He noticed her caution and slight fear and came to conclusion that she had no idea what she was carrying. Dread slowly approached the relic, despite the warning to stay away from the mare. Looking down at this strange object with a curious look in his eye.

"It...doesn't seem to be dangerous" he said as he tapped it with one of his front hooves, which would prove to be a mistake

[Xelliea]

Hasta stood completely still, not moving an inch. Her gaze was fixed on Dread Lock and the relic, now visibly shaking and swirling with energy. The Earth-pony approached the relic, seemingly unfazed by the item in question and how it was acting, leaving Hasta wondering how and why he was so confident in his interaction with it. Back away n...now. The light-brown Night Guard gulped slightly. She wasn't happy with this level of confrontation, this wasn't her field of expertise, but she couldn't risk this pony unwittingly activating the relic. The consequences could be huge.

Breathing out slowly, she too began to make her way towards the item. Oddly enough, ever since the box had shattered, the little attention that had been draw by the relic had dissipated. Not a single pony even looked at the item in question or the two ponies near it. That thing could do anything, don't be a fool.

When Dread tapped the relic with his hoof, Hasta fell into a pit of utter panic. In a rapid dash forward, the last part of which was more of a jump, she lunged at the relic. Once the two ponies had touched the relic, it finally ceased humming. Instead, it leapt into the air, a little higher than the average pony, and manufactured an aura of white light. It was similar to that of a Unicorn's horn activating, but it covered a much larger area, enough to envelop both ponies. Hasta opened her mouth to speak, but the relic gave a final, high-pitched whine, releasing a bright flash.

Everything went dark.

[CableZ]

Dread Lock didn't conform to many social policies, mainly as he wasn;t aware of many. So when it came to being curious, he didn't think about his own safety or much less the safety of the others around him. He didn't consider that his investigation of this relic would effect the other ponies around him, and as such there was no hesitation in his actions. At first, when he made contact with the relic nothing happened. He didn't register the fear and apprehension the mare who had bumped into him was presenting, he just continued to look down at this strange object. It wasn't until he looked up slightly and saw the mare leaping toward him that he noticed she was actually doing anything. When they both made contact with the relic, it began floating up. It floated directly on level with Dread Lock's eyes, to which he looked at it rather confused.

Then there was only darkness

Dread Lock woke up with a short gasp, he lay on his side on seemingly nothingness. Looking around before he moved, Dread Lock got an idea of where they were. Which was nowhere. Getting up to his hooves, Dread looked around. All around was nothing but pitch darkness, yet there was no lack of light. Dread let out a sigh at his current predicament, alone in a field of nothing. It wasn't until he looked down at his hooves that he saw a somewhat familiar face. The mare that had bumped into him was on the floor, unconscious just had he had been. She was in the same position she had been in when she leapt toward him and touched the relic. He studied her for a moment, he really was unsure how to proceed. Before he proceeded with her, Dread wanted to see what this place was really like. He walked around for a few minutes, the floor had no texture to it and was just..well nothing.

Walking back over to this mare that had really started all this trouble to begin with, he looked down at her again. He had no idea how long he had been out for or how much longer she was going to be out for. He knew however that he would more than likely need help getting out of this place. He lightly tapped her side with his hoof, his attempts to wake her were as loud as his voice and that was not loud at all. He continued to tap her while speaking this time

"Um...hello?" His voice didn't echo in this seemingly endless place
"Hello?...wake up please?" He phrased it more like a question than a request or demand

He continued at his attempts and would do so until she woke up

[Xelliea]

There was nothing but darkness. Silence and darkness. In her mind, Hasta thought over all that had happened. The relic, how it activated, that pony. Who was he? Was he really just curious, or was he up to something. Nopony would approach such a device in their right mind, especially when it was acting as the relic had. Yet, there was something innocent about him, something that said that he was just overly curious. The thoughts played over in her mind. She couldn't make sense of any of it. There was no trick, no hidden cards, no fixed odds, there was just the present. Just the darkness.

Inside the void, inside her mind, there was a distant voice. It was impossible to make out what it was saying, let alone who was speaking, but it was there. But soon, a louder, bolder voice raged through her head. Not exactly what I was expecting, but you actually got it to work. In what was almost like a dream, Hasta tried to speak, but the voice seemed not to notice her. Now pull them out. There was another voice, slightly softer in its tone. Ah, yes, that might be... Just do it! Y...yes sir...

Hasta woke up, suddenly, to see the pony from earlier stand over her. She got to her feet as fast as she could, keeping a strong glare fixed on the pony. The darkness around them seemed to be unending, unyielding. It radiated like a strong force through the two stranded in its infinity. It looked like one could walk forever, and never reach an end.

Listen, whatever you did, we're stuck here now. Unless you know how we're meant to get out, you better start talking.

[CableZ]

Dread Lock watch as the pony got up faster than he could blink, she gave him the same soul piercing glare that she had given him before. He remained quiet and emotionless as she looked around and studied the environment they now found themselves in. He too took another look around as she did, just because he thought thats what you do when someone looks around. Her gaze then returned to him, and his to her. He didn't know how to react to a situation such as this, let alone to another pony in the same situation. Even to Dread Lock it was clear that this mare thought he was somehow responsible for what was going on, to which he also had no idea how to respond.

"Listen, whatever you did, we're stuck here now. Unless you know how we're meant to get out, you better start talking."


He tried to think of an appropriate way to respond to this, his experience aside he doubted many ponies would know how to respond. But what did he know? He remained silent for a good few minutes, looking at the ground...well down at least. After around 6 minutes had passed he looked up and tried to speak, but no words came out. He tried again and nothing, he had a frustrated look on his face that was merely frustration at himself.

"Um...Talk about what?" He finally managed to get the quiet words out, he tone was genuine as well. He had no idea what she wanted to talk about.

He kicked the ground with his hoof softly, trying to think of something else to say. He looked around again, anywhere but eye contact with his mare. Eye contact usually made him nervous. Finally working up the courage to look at her again, he tried speaking one last time
"Umm...do you maybe...know where we are?"

[Xelliea]

Hasta didn't like the dark. Every since she was a little filly, darkness and silence always made her uneasy, if not down right terrified. This was beyond odd, seeing as she was, by nature, a shadowy and deceptive individual. She couldn't put her hoof on why she hated the dark. Maybe it was due to the fact that her brother, half-brother really, used to jump out and scare her when the two were young. Maybe it was due to the time when she had gotten lost in the fields and had spent nearly the whole night alone outside. But it was a fear that had stuck with her.

She stood in front of the Earth-pony, whose name still alluded her, still tense at the whole situation, but found herself beginning to calm down slightly. She would usually have kept her guard up, to have stayed alert at what was happening, but this was far beyond the usual. The two ponies were in the same boat and even Hasta knew that working with others sometimes had its benefits. Above all, now was one of those times.

I... I have no idea where we are... I was hoping you would know. She, reluctantly, decided to explain about the voices she had heard before she had woken up. How one had been as booming as a horn, while the other considerably softer. How they had been talking about, what she could only assume, was the Earth-pony and herself. With a slow look around, she began to speak again. I would guess either the relic transported us here, or we are in fact inside the relic itself. In truth, magic workings are not my strong point.

I... She took a deep breath. She had never told a pony she had just met her real name, never, but she knew this Earth-pony wouldn't trust her if she didn't. With a dig at the ground with her hoof, she finished her sentence. ... I'm Hasta.